I know you they are not in the tactical trend but there's virtually no topics about them on any of the US hunting and shooting forums.

Does anyone have one? What can you tell us about it and pics would be awesome if you have some to share.

Thanks!

I've heard great things about them from a couple guys who know rifles. They've dropped in price in the last year...you can get one at Euro Optics for $2,700 or so. Gatogordo here has a couple of them.

On my bucket list of 'someday' guns. IMO, one of the most svelte, beautiful rifles made today.

Geedubya has a couple (and some gorgeous pics of them). If he doesn't find this, toss him a PM.

If you would have told me 15 or ever 10 years ago that I would own break open single shot rifles with skinny barrels and iron sights I’d have said you wuz crazy! I pretty much owned nothing but heavy barreled “beanfield” type rifles, many in Magnum calibers.

Well as it turns out, I’m a short range meat hunter and 95% of my shots are under 200 yards. I’ve also found that good bullets launched at 2,800 FPS or less tend to do a lot less damage than the magnums. I've hunted with T/C contenders, Hi-walls, Ruger#1's, Rem 700's with followers and a couple dozen single shot Coopers, so the single shot break open Merkels suit me just fine.

So, fast forward a few years, and I’ve gone off the deep end on Merkels, Sauer’s Steyrs. You are correct in that its hard to find good “dope” on these rifles. I haunted gun shops in the greater Houston, Texas, and googled innumerable web sites trying to nail down good info. Finally saw one one day when I met a young man who evidently was a trust fund baby. I met him at Briley’s to buy a Cooper he received as a graduation present. He sold it to me quick and fast as he needed another $1,250 to buy the Perazzi shotgun he wanted.
Briley’s let me fondle the little jewel, but their price was above what I was willing to pay. It took me about 3 years to find the 7-08 Jagd Stutzen on GunBroker. I’ve just fell into the others over the last few years.

So here we go.

I’ve owned four. Two Jagd Stutzens (full stock single shot carbine). One K1 in 7mm-08, the other, a K3 in 308 Win. The K1’s are set up for the Recknagel twist mounts. The K3’s are set up with mounts similar to the Blazer saddle mounts. I prefer the mounts on the K1 for quickness on and off. Both return to zero every time. With the first K1 I ran into a gun rep that gave me the Americase for the 7-08 K1.






I got lucky as the K3 in 308 came with both the Americase and a Skinner Sights ballistic nylon carry bag. Makes for a sweet package. Will fit in the tour pack of a Harley or on the back of a four wheeler.



When I carry the Merkels, I usually hunt with a Eberlestock H2O gunrunner, and the Merkel sheathed.


The two half stocks were both K1’s, being a 300 Win Mag, and a 9.3 x 74R.
I sold the 300 Win. Mag as it was a bit much in this rifle.



The Jagd Stutzens are my favorite.



Light, diminuitve, accurate with 3 way selectable trigger on the left side a the top of the Trigger guard. IIRC, 2.9 lbs., 2.3 lbs, and 2.1 lbs. Safety is on the tang and has to be pushed forward to activate the trigger.



But they are no toy and do not feel like one in the hand. They lock up like a bank vault. If you ever get the fat part of your palm between your thumb and index finger caught upon closure, you will see what I mean.

I love the 7-08 and 308 Win. Chamberings. I typically load 140 gr. Accubonds over 43 Gr. W-748 in the 7-08, and 150 gr. Accubonds over 46.5 gr. Rl-15, usually a few thousandths over book length.
I’ve never wrung out these two or tried to do load development. Rather use my old reliable loads. They are MOA shooters.

The 9.3 x 74 is a different story…….



These were the targets that accompanied the rifle. It came with scope, and 100 rounds of ammo loaded with the 286 gr. Partitions.



Here are the first two rounds I shot with the partitons. I figured that was good enough for the porkers I perforate.

Don't do many out of state hunts. I prefer to DIY on my own "workin'-mans trespass lease.

So pardon the lack of grizz, elk, Moose and mule deer.

Now the dead animal pix.


Ya’
7MM-08 K1, Jagd Stutzen




and a two-fer.....


308 Win, K3 Jagd Stutzen



K1 Half Stock,
9.3 x 74 loaded with 286 gr. Partitions




DRT (dirt-nap right there)

Anywho, as was mentioned before, Euro-optic has them for sale on GunBroker. You definitely want to check out what the rifle comes with as the Blaser saddle mounts are EXPENSIVE.

I purchased/traded for three of my four on GunBroker. The 308 Win with accessories I purchased on the fire through the Classifieds.
May also want to check out Blazerbuds and Accurate Reloading classifieds. Guns of the South stocks Merkels but they typically ask MSRP. The Steyr Mannlicher dealership also has them from time to time. I'd stay away from the 30 Blaser unless they've started making brass again, and 30 Blaser ammo and dies are hard to come by.


JAPPFT,


GWB

I've had a K1 in .308 Winchester for a dozen years. It's very accurate and very light (6 pounds 11 ounces with scope) despite very fancy wood. One of my favorite rifles, though it doesn't get hunted as much as it should these days.

Thanks for all the detailed feedback about these guns!

Makes me want one even more. I knew starting this thread was a bad idea!

GW, have you compared or shot any of the Blaser K95's? I handled one at DSC and it felt terrific.

In regards to the K95's, I've made the remark " all my Merkels want to be Blazers when they grow up"!

I have an R93 Prestige in 243 Win., and its a shooter. I have also had one occasion to fondle a K95. It was the half stock. My preference would be the Stutzen. So far, the K95's remain above my pain threshold. They seem to be few and far between at the price I'm willing to pay.
At this point I don't think I'm willing to go sell Merkels to acquire one Blazer.

Best,

GWB

Beautiful rifles..

WANT...

Will the stock allow a solid cheek weld and still allow you to see through a 40mm scope?

Very nicely put together rifles. I have one of the Stutzen's in 7x57R that seems to shoot about anything very well. Really should get it out and see if I can find a whitetail with it. Maybe this year..

R H Clark, With the mounts that came with mine, Yes...

I handled one of Geedubs Merkels at the hog hunt. I believe it was the .308. Very nice and I will one day own one. Im a pretty good sized fellow and that little gun fits like a glove.

I have a K1 in 7mm RMag topped with a 6x42 FXIII.



At 6# 5oz the 7mm RM spinning a 150 e-Tip at 3k is rather bitchy on the recoil front. Magnificent joy to carry though and she shoots very tight groups. 1/2"-3/4" groups at 100 are not uncommon.


My wife has a K1 Stutzen in 7x57r topped with a 1-6 VX6.



That rifle is a spectacularly tidy package. 150's at 2550 are plenty of most critters and it too shoots sub 1".

Both rifles have wonderful wood on them but my wife's Stutzen makes me jealous every time I see it. Full fiddleback end to end. The pix just don't do it justice.

The K1 has truly been one of the best rifle purchases I've ever made. Absolutely no regrets.

This is something that I've been wondering about too.

How naturally can you sight the iron sights? Do you need to squish you cheek into the stock?

I would likely want the iron sights to line up naturally so I hope the comb height is set for the irons. This is how I'd likely carry it most of the time and have the scope in my pack.

The last animal I shot was just inside 80 yards, one shot with the iron sights and my hunt was over. But it could have been over a lot earlier if I had the option to use a scope. That would have been about 300 yard shot.

This K3 rifle is ideal for the type of hunting I like to do.

At least with my K1 yes, it's a bit of a squish down to get to the irons but it's not uncomfortable. It is quite the slap to the cheek with a full 7mag load.

The 9.3 x 74R half stock is currently topped with a 3.5-10 x 44 Conquest.



The 308 Stutzen is topped with a 3-10 x 42 Z3

Seem to work fine.

JAPPFT,


GWB

I'm 5'8 and 190 lbs. So I'm about as medium as a guy can get. As a boy I shot by point with my Dasies', never used the sights.

When I made the transition to rimfires I shot a Winchester 63.

Over the last 20 years or so I've mainly used scoped rifles.

However I find that the Merkel Stutzen floats up and the fiber-optic red dot front sight is almost dead centered in the notch of the rear sight.







My cheek-weld is at the point of my cheekbone, but its more of a rest than a scrunch. When I got the first K1, it came in a few days before I was to go on a bear hunt with hounds. As I'm old and don't have the legs or wind that I did in my youth I wanted something light and nimble. This rifle fills the bill. I shot it with irons at 25 and 50 yds. and was plenty comfortable with both the rifle's and my performance.





With the quick release levers one the K3 saddle mount, the scope can be removed in a few seconds. Putting the saddle mounts back on is just a little more tricky, but can be done is way less than a minute, and returns to zero.

Hope this helps, It was with some trepidation that I made the decision to buy one. After I got it in, fondled it, shot it, hunted it, the only hard part now is coming up with the scratch to buy another.

Just sayin'

GWB